NBC versus Conan O’Brien turns into custody battle over who keeps the dog

(HMG) – While Conan O’Brien’s exit deal is expected to be finalized soon, one of the sticking points in the negotiations is a custody battle over who gets Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and other characters Conan has created over the years such as the Pimpbot 5000 and the Masturbating Bear. NBC is playing the intellectual property card, as it did when David Letterman went to CBS in 1993. It’s legally unclear who owns the rights to the pugnacious Triumph, a creation of Conan’s longtime friend, writer Robert Smigel. Conan of course wants to take the characters with him wherever he might land, but not without conceding to other points in the exit deal. According to TMZ, NBC wants a strong non-disparagement clause in place to keep Conan from trashing the Peacock network for as long as possible.

O’Brien’s buyout by NBC is strongly rumored to be in the $40 million neighborhood. You might be happy to learn that O’Brien’s staffers, many of whom uprooted their lives in New York City to move to Los Angeles for ‘The Tonight Show,’ are expected to get a generous severance package as well, though some of that may come from the millions paid out to O’Brien himself. Conan’s final ‘Tonight Show’  is set to air Friday, Jan. 22, with Jay Leno returning to his old job on March 1, after NBC is finished airing the Winter Olympics.

Source